Reborn in '77, I have a job panel!

"Sister Hou, please have a seat," Deng Jingshu said to Hou Yufen.

"No, there's still soup simmering at home. Chengzi, I'll trouble you to look after it."

"What's the trouble? You're being too polite by saying that."

Deng Jingshu and Hou Yufen, who are about to become in-laws, get along quite well. Now that Qian Cheng and Zhang Mingxi are getting closer, the two of them are naturally becoming more and more familiar with each other as well.

Hou Yufen is gone.

Zhang Mingxi helped Qian Cheng sit down and poured him a cup of hot water.

Qian Cheng took a sip of his drink and looked at Zhang Changtian: "Master, I'd like to do some carpentry work."

Zhang Changtian was taken aback: "With legs like yours, what kind of carpentry work can you do?"

"You can do it sitting down, it doesn't strain your legs."

Zhang Changtian took a drag of his cigarette but didn't say anything.

Deng Jingshu said from the side, "Old Zhang, Chengzi has come all this way, why don't you let him practice? You can keep an eye on him, can't you?"

Zhang Changtian was silent for a while, tapped his pipe, and stood up.

"Let's go inside and wait."

Qian Cheng smiled, stood up, and followed him outside. Zhang Mingxi offered to help him, but he waved his hand, saying, "I can walk by myself."

Qian Cheng walked in and smelled the familiar scent of wood, which made him feel much more at ease.

Zhang Changtian followed him in, looked at him, and said, "I won't teach you anything new today. Get a feel for it first and make some small gadgets."

"OK."

Zhang Changtian pointed to a pile of scraps in the corner: "Those are all waste materials, you can use them as you like."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Qian Cheng sat down at the worktable and first flexed his fingers; he hadn't worked for days and his hands were a bit rusty.

He picked up a scrap piece, a palm-sized pine plank with a pretty good grain.

What should we do?

After thinking about it, I decided to make a wooden spoon.

It's simple and effortless.

He picked up the plane and gently planed it a few times. Wood shavings curled up, and the familiar sensation came from his hands.

He scratched a few times, then stopped, feeling a pain in his chest, and took a breath.

It still has some impact; with a broken rib, I can't exert too much force.

Then let's take it slow.

Qian Cheng sawed the wooden board into the shape of a spoon, then used a file to refine it little by little. Wood shavings fell off bit by bit, and the spoon gradually took shape.

Carpentry Proficiency +1

A notification flashed before my eyes.

Qian Cheng was overjoyed. He hadn't worked for days and his skills hadn't improved at all, but now he was finally able to get moving again.

Qian Cheng continued to refine the spoon, smoothing the edges and rounding the handle. Although it was slow, he did each step carefully.

After an unknown amount of time, the door to the small house opened gently.

Zhang Mingxi poked half his head in and saw Qian Cheng concentrating on his work. He asked softly, "Are you tired?"

Qian Cheng looked up, saw it was her, and smiled: "Not tired."

Zhang Mingxi slipped in, closed the door behind her, and walked over to Qian Cheng, looking at the wooden spoon in his hand.

"Well done."

"It's alright."

Qian Cheng knew that Zhang Mingxi was praising him indirectly, but he still appreciated it. After all, who wouldn't like to have a beautiful woman by their side praising them all the time?

Qian Cheng could understand why ancient emperors liked treacherous officials so much.

Who doesn't like to hear nice things?

He doesn't have masochistic tendencies.

Zhang Mingxi stood to the side, not saying a word, just watching him work.

Qian Cheng worked for a while, then looked up at her: "Why aren't you going out?"

Zhang Mingxi shook his head vigorously, like a rattle-drum: "I don't want to go out. My dad's two old friends are here, playing cards inside. It's so noisy and messy."

Qian Cheng then remembered that he seemed to have seen two strangers when he entered the courtyard. They turned out to be Zhang Changtian's old friends.

"So you're just going to stay here?"

"Okay." Zhang Mingxi nodded. "I'll go with you."

Qian Cheng smiled and continued working.

As he was working, he suddenly put down the file in his hand, reached out and grasped Zhang Mingxi's hand.

Zhang Mingxi's hand trembled, and her face flushed red. She glanced at the door and whispered, "What are you doing?"

"What's wrong with touching hands?" Qian Cheng said matter-of-factly. "It's not like I haven't touched hands before."

Zhang Mingxi's face turned even redder, but she didn't pull her hand back.

Indeed, she had already given herself to Qian Cheng inside the house.

Later, in the hospital, during the few days she took care of him, he touched her hand quite often.

Sometimes when it hurt to change the dressing, Qian Cheng would hold her hand tightly.

shameless.

But back then I felt sorry for him, now...

"You should do your job well," Zhang Mingxi said softly, her face flushed.

"I'll touch it while I work," Qian Cheng chuckled.

Zhang Mingxi glared at him, but couldn't help but smile.

Qian Cheng held her hand, picked up the file with his other hand, and continued to refine the spoon. He would work for a while, glance at her, and then look down to continue working.

Zhang Mingxi stood there, her little hand held by Qian Cheng, feeling a sweet warmth in her heart.

The room was quiet, with only the sound of a file grinding wood.

After a while, Qian Cheng fixed the spoon.

He held it up to look at it, then ran his fingertip along the edge; it was quite smooth.

"Here you go." He handed the spoon to Zhang Mingxi.

Zhang Mingxi took it and looked at it over and over again.

Zhang Mingxi held the wooden spoon, his eyes sparkling. The spoon was small, about the length of a palm, with a round head and a slightly curved handle, but it was polished very smoothly.

"It's so beautiful."

"What's so special about it? It's just practice. I'll make you a better one when I'm more skilled."

"This is fine." Zhang Mingxi held the spoon in her hand. "I'll keep it."

Seeing Zhang Mingxi's happy expression, Qian Cheng felt happy too.

He picked up another piece of wood and started making the second one.

Zhang Mingxi watched from the side, occasionally handing him a tool or wiping his sweat. The two didn't talk much, but the atmosphere was quite comfortable.

Inside the house, Zhang Changtian was playing cards with two old friends.

One of them, surnamed Ma, was a carpenter from a neighboring village and a fellow apprentice of Zhang Changtian.

The other one, surnamed Zhou, is from the town. He used to work at the supply and marketing cooperative and is now retired.

The three of them played cards for a long time. Old Ma lost several hands and was feeling the pinch of losing money when he suddenly remembered something.

"Old Zhang, I heard you've taken on an apprentice?" Old Ma asked.

Zhang Changtian played a card and grunted in response.

"Is he the kid who fought with Wang Shoujun the other day?" Old Zhou also became interested and mentioned him.

Zhang Changtian hummed in agreement again.

Old Ma became interested: "How's that kid? Is he any promising?"

Zhang Changtian was silent for a moment, then said, "It's alright."

Old Zhou chuckled and muttered to Zhang Changtian, "What do you mean by 'not bad'? You never speak clearly."

Zhang Changtian played another card before slowly speaking, "You've learned quite quickly, better than I was back then."

Old Ma and Old Zhou exchanged a glance, both somewhat surprised.

Zhang Changtian is a stubborn man who rarely praises others.

It's really not easy to hear him say something like "better than I was back then".

Hearing Zhang Changtian say this, Old Ma became interested: "Then we must meet him. Where is he?"

"They're working in the hut," Zhang Changtian said, pointing to the carpentry hut next to the inner room.

Old Ma stood up and looked out the window. The door to the carpentry shed was closed, and he couldn't see inside.